This invention relates to small, multi-application devices, and, more specifically, to application (task) management in such devices.
Small computers have moved from single function devices (such as calculators, address books, etc.) to sophisticated, multi-application devices that rival full size desktop computers in functionality. These small, multi-application devices now include everything from address books or phone books to e-mail and even full-functionality telephones. As these devices become smaller, while the number of functions continues to grow, there is a tension between the size of a display screen and the amount of information displayed on the screen so that the user can manage the tasks on the device to full utility.
Each application comprises one or more xe2x80x9ctasksxe2x80x9d and each task has its own graphical user interface. On desktop computers, a tasks""s graphical user interface is displayed along with the graphical user interface of the other open tasks. In handheld computers with correspondingly small displays, it is not possible to simultaneously display more than one graphical user interface. Therefore, various task management systems have been developed in order to deal with this problem. Some devices employ a drop-down list wherein the user pushes a button on the display and identification of all open tasks is displayed. This solution is limited, however, to the size of the screen. If only four or five lines are available on the screen, then only four or five tasks can be open at one time. A variation on this, using a scroll bar with a drop-down list, is counter-intuitive because it is not always clear what tasks are available and how many more tasks need to be displayed.
Other devices use a FIFO-like system in which an indication or identification of each task is displayed responsive to a button being pushed. However, the user has to cycle through the entire array of tasks in order to find a specific task. Other systems permit the user to back up one task and then toggle between two tasks. In order to get to a third task, however, the user must kill or close one or both of the other tasks.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a simple, intuitive system for selecting tasks in small screen multi-application devices.
According to one aspect of this invention, a method is provided for managing tasks in a multi-application device. The method includes the steps of sequentially opening more than two tasks, pushing each task on a top position of a stack as an active task as each task is open, and pushing previously open tasks down one position in a stack. Further, the method includes sequentially cycling through the stack of tasks, selecting one of the plurality of tasks as a new active task, moving the new active task from a previous position in the stack to the top of the task and pushing each of the other tasks from the current task to a task before the previous task down one position in the stack. According to another aspect of the invention, the step of selecting one of the plurality of tasks includes taking action in one of the tasks in the stack. Further, according to another aspect of the invention, the method includes displaying a graphical user interface for each of the tasks. The method further includes the step of killing a predetermined number of tasks at the bottom of the stack after a predetermined time.
In accordance with another aspect of this invention, a task manager is described for a multi-application device wherein the multi-application device has a screen and has more than two open tasks, each of the open tasks having an identification and a display of indicia of the task. The task manager, according to this invention, includes a stack having a plurality of slots including a top slot, each slot being adapted to store an identification of an open task, means for displaying indicia of a task in the top slot of the stack on the screen, a stepping mechanism adapted to sequentially step from the top slot of the stack downwardly and display the indicia associated with the open task in each slot. Further, the task manager includes a user input adapted to select a task responsive to manipulation of the tasks displayed, means for moving the identification of the selected tasks to the top of the stack responsive to said means for selecting, and means for pushing the rest of the tasks down one slot.